Now It Begins

In some ways, it is unfortunate that the Pirates are in the same division as the St. Louis Cardinals.  The Cards have the best record, the most wins, in baseball.  Nobody is even close.  The Pirates however have the second best record.  In just about any other division of either league, they would be in first place.

But if the Cards push them to keep up, it is not so unfortunate, because they have a clear path to the postseason.  If the season ended now, they would have the first Wild Card berth.

The Giants on the other hand don't have as clear a path.  They are competing for their division championship, mostly with the Dodgers.  If they don't get that, things get chancier.  Because the race for the second Wild Card spot is unclear.  Even a half game out (as they are at the moment), they might not make the postseason--they are even closer to the record of the Chicago Cubs for the second Wild Card.

In the past two or three weeks, the Giants have done what they needed to do.  Playing mostly teams who are not in contention, they dominated.  On Wednesday they broke a pitcher's duel open with a five run inning, and took their home series with the Brewers, after breaking their latest winning streak at six with Tuesday's loss to the Brewers.  So they have won 12 of their last 14 games.

But after an off-day Thursday, things change.  They're on the road, playing better teams than they have been playing, in less congenial circumstances (like a lot of hot weather.)  The rest of the season is going to be challenging.

Both the Pirates and Giants (who play each other four more games, in Pittsburgh; the Pirates swept the last series in San Francisco) play a series with their main opponent in the last week of the season, and they both do so at home.  The Cards-Pirates games probably won't be meaningful for the division title unless the Cards have a last month swoon, and the Pirates streak.  Most Giants observers expect the Dodgers series to be meaningful, and possibly determine the division.  Probably there's a greater chance of that, but of course it's not guaranteed (besides which, both teams have another series after it.)

But that's late September.  There are a lot of games to come in the dog days--the period when the Giants faltered last year--and this year, it seems less likely that they will back into the Wild Card.  Manager Bruce Bochy seems really conscious of this--he's resting players, keeping his starters to pitch counts, and sacrificing hitters on the bench for a large pitching corps.  So this is when it gets interesting, in terms of season outcome (the Giants are an interesting and fun team to watch game by game anyway.)  This is when it begins.

Weekend Update, and Giants over the former Seattle Pilots

The weekend ended with the Giants sweeping their 3 game series with Oakland and the Pirates winning 3 of 4 from the powerhouse Washington Nationals, both at home.  The Pirates victory on Sunday meant Cole remains the win leader among starters in the league, and Melancon the league leader in saves.

One Pirates tradition from my youth still seems observed--Monday off.  But the Giants had a night game with the Milwaukee Brewers, and beat them 4-2.  For the second game in a row, their victory was aided by an inexplicable base running mistake by the opposition, with Buster Posey throwing out both runners trying a really ill-advised steal in the late innings.  On Sunday Matt Duffy had a towering home run, and on Monday Brandon Crawford sent a 3-0 fastball into the deepest part of the park, where it bounced off the low wall and into the hands of an absolutely thrilled young woman in a Giants jersey, a two-run homer.

So the Giants now have two six-game win streaks separated by one loss.  This has put them suddenly 11 games above .500 and a game behind the Dodgers for the division lead.

Chris Heston pitched seven and got his 11th win, so he remains tied for club lead with Bumgarner.  He was shaky early, even after the lead (he usually is stronger with a lead) but 3 double plays got him out of serious trouble. Aoki rejoined the team, but nobody even mentioned him in the post-game wrap.  He went 0 for 3, and Bruce Bochy wisely had him batting 8th.  And at his first opportunity, Bochy got Blanco into the game, as a pinch-hitter for Heston in the bottom of the 7th.  Blanco promptly hit a double, drove in the insurance run, and stole third.  Bochy respects team chemistry and individuals in the zone (like Blanco lately).  He's an if it ain't broke don't fit it guy.  At the same time, he can't ignore past heavy contributors coming back from injury.

 Bochy says he's committed to his current starting rotation, including Hudson, who looked better if not stronger in his victory Sunday--a victory over the As that meant he'd beaten every team in the majors over his long career.  He's the 15th pitcher to do it.  That's spectacular, although I'm surprised there were that many.

Before Crawford's homer, the Giants manufactured their first run in the classic Giants way--a Duffy double, Posey ground ball to advance him to third, Pence a long fly to score him.  The Brewers compounded the caught stealing with a hissy fit, and their cleanup hitter and manager got tossed.

Years ago, probably after 2010 WS win, Margaret gave me a Giants daily calendar--one of those small square jobs that you tear off a page every day, this time with a baseball fact on each page.  I saved a bunch of them for bookmarks.  Yesterday I grabbed one from my stash and for some reason actually read it.  It happened to be about the Milwaukee Brewers, and it was something I didn't remember.  The Brewers originally were the American League team, the Seattle Pilots, in 1969.  Even after they moved to Milwaukee and became the Brewers, they remained in the American League, until switching in 1997.

I wasn't paying much attention to baseball in 1969, and hardly ever paid much attention to the American League, so I don't even remember the Seattle Pilots.  They lasted one season there, and after protracted legal and other shenanigans, a judge declared the team bankrupt, and Bud Selig took them to Milwaukee, which had lost its Braves to Atlanta.  I should have remembered the Pilots, though, because Jim Bouton's famous Ball Four was about his season with them.

Wins and Bochy, Patron Saint of Writers

They seem to save it for the best teams.  The Pirates, comfortably back home, beat the Washington Nationals twice, with more power than pitching this time, including a monster home run into the river by Pedro Alvarez (who homered in both games) off Nat's ace Scherzer, who no-hit the Bucs the last time they met. (He came within an out of a perfect game.)

The Giants, also comfortably at home, beat the Oakland A's 9-3, without a home run.  Just four hits by Hunter Pence, including two RBI doubles, and true to his streaky ways, a multi-hit night for Brandon Belt, plus a very nice double play in the field.

But the reason I'm hitting the keys tonight is to mention something I keep forgetting. I've mentioned many times how much I like the Giants announcers (they make the current Pirates announcers a real embarrassment), while recognizing their wit and intelligence fit well for the Giants market of upscale techies.  And Bruce Bochy is recognized everywhere as one of the best managers, if not the best, in baseball.  Bochy, like players and managers everywhere, does things for "charity," and like a lot of both, he's written a book.

Bochy's book is about walks he's taken in cities the Giants have visited.  And if that's not unique enough, the proceeds go to help aspiring writers.   That's not only unique--that's amazing, even if you're too old to be called an aspiring writer anymore.

Heating Up

The Pirates haven't righted the ship yet after the All-Star break, but the SF Giants are clipping along.  They've finished a 5-1 road trip, and have won 8 of their last 9 games.  After losing the first in San Diego, they won the next two, and scored a lot of runs doing it.

 Wednesday's game was really interesting.  Matt Cain again got better as he went along, and gave up only one run, on a mistake pitch homer.  James Shields pitching for the Padres had the Giants scoreless, missing one opportunity after another with runners on base.  But those extended innings, and the long at-bats Giants hitters had, chased him from the game early because of pitch count. Once he was gone, the Padres vulnerable middle relievers got hammered.

Brandon Belt homered for the first time in ages, and that bodes well for the near future with this highly streaky hitter.  Buster Posey once again muscled two runs across with a double--he's an unassuming Superman with runners on base.  Pence, who launched a screaming line drive homer on Tuesday that went nearly 500 feet, scorched a single and an RBI on the next pitch after Posey's double on Wednesday.  Once again, Joe Panik and Matt Duffy were getting on base the entire road trip.

But it's really past time to take notice of Brandon Crawford.  I have to admit that last year when he hit the grand slam that sunk the Bucs in their Wild Card game, I thought of it as a fluke, a lucky swing that sent the ball out in the perfect spot, the closest and lowest point for a homer.

But this year he's not only the best defensive shortstop in the league, or a clutch singles hitter at the back of the lineup.  He's hitting with authority and power. On the Giants he's second to Posey in homers, and here's a stat that blew me away: he has more RBIs than the Buc's run producer, Andrew McCutchen.  Crawford hit a big fly homer on Wednesday, with a real home run swing.

Tuesday's homer highlight was a grand slam by none other than Hector Sanchez, the catcher called up from the minors when Susak got hurt.  That was a home run swing, and a home run flip of the bat, which got the ire of the Padres' pitcher.  The man threw chewing gum at him!  The umps warned both benches.

After an off day, the Giants at home face another couple of teams with losing records, though both have been winning lately: Oakland and Milwaukee.  Then they start facing tougher opponents.  Friday may well see the return of  Aoki to the lineup.  He only got one hit in his two minor league rehab games so his timing is apt to be off, but how about this: the Giants with Aoki AND Pence in the lineup, and three pitchers returned to the starting corps, of which two--Cain and Peavy--look good.

Only flies in the ointment: Hudson didn't look sharp his first start (though he didn't get bombed either), and reliever Affeldt was ineffective in his return. We may not see Lincecum again this season, with hip problems that may require surgery.  It's not clear whether Pagan has fully recovered from his leg injury. But the Giants right now have more of their key personnel healthy than they did much of last season.

While there is some speculation about moves the Giants might make before trade deadline, there's also a feeling that they mostly have the makings.  Not so in Pittsburgh apparently--the players are fielding questions about trades, with Neil Walker quoted as saying the team has some obvious needs.

There's been a lot of chatter about trades, and none made so far.  Both the Oakland As and the Brewers are surrounded by trade talk, and some of it may happen while they're in SF.  I'd be surprised if the Giants traded very high--maybe Maxwell, who has a lot of potential, maybe Affeldt, but this team has such great chemistry it's hard to see it disrupted.  The infield is solid and with Aoki back, so is the outfield.  If the Giants trade it will be interesting to see if they sacrifice experience (a few of their older relievers) or youth (they're packed with great potential among pitchers in the minors.)  I wouldn't be surprised--or disappointed--if they stood pat basically.  And I don't think many other fans would either.

Good, Bad and Ugly

Coming out of the gate after the All-Star game break, the San Francisco Giants swept their three game series at Arizona, including a 5 hour epic that used a record 10 pitchers.  That extends a pre-break winning streak to 6 games, and two sweeps.  Good!

Coming out of the break, the Pittsburgh Pirates were swept in Milwaukee.  This team has a history of stuttering if not stopping in the second half of the season.  Bad!

The ugly was a serious injury to the Pirates' starting shortstop Jordy Mercer.  It sounds like it may have ended his season, though that's not yet confirmed.

Also not pretty but not as bad by comparison was the minor injury to Giants catcher Andrew Susak.  He's on the 15-day DL by which time he's expected to be fine.  But he'd been hitting very well lately and stoking hopes that he could platoon behind the plate more often, getting Buster Posey in an upright position playing first base.  His injury also may complicate trade possibilities before the deadline for Hector Sanchez, the backup catcher he replaced and who is now replacing him.  The Giants carry only two catchers.

The Pirates getting batted around in Milwaukee may not be as bad as it seems, since the Brewers were already on a hot streak.  It doesn't get any easier for them however, as they next play last year's American League champs at Kansas City.

The Giants will test that Brewer's streak when they come into SF next week but first they go to San Diego, where the Padres have recently awakened.  On Sunday, the Padres experienced only their second rain-out in the history of their ball park, as remnants of Pacific hurricane Delores deluged southern California.  The Angels game was also called.

And then there's a really hard month of baseball for the Giants as they play a string of contenders, often away.  So could be good, could be bad, and it could be ugly.

My All-Star Moment

As both of my teams are in the NL, not good news that the AL won the All-Star game to secure home field advantage in the World Series.

As possibly the world's only Pittsburgh Pirates/San Francisco Giants fan, I note that the Giants players did ok--Madison Bumgarner pitched a scoreless inning, Brandon Crawford got an RBI--and the Pirates did well, especially Andrew McCutchen who blasted a second-deck homer.  Pretty to watch.

But the highlight perhaps peculiar to me was the strikeout of the game's MVP, Mike Trout (the first to go back to back) with the Bucs' ace Gerrit Cole pitching (a nasty curve) and the Giants' star Buster Posey catching. Both of these are currently on a loop at Bleacher Report-Pittsburgh Pirates.

Springing into the Break

Both my teams are surging into the All-Star break,  but you can't beat the Pittsburgh Pirates for a dramatic and ecstatic weekend.  On Saturday night, they played the St. Louis Cardinals to a tie in regulation nine, then St. Louis scored a run in the top of the 14th.  But in the bottom of the 14th, Neil Walker singled and Andrew McCutchen hit a towering homerun to center that hit into the topiary bushes that spell out  PIRATES.  Game over.

Can't top that huh?  Think again.  In the ESPN nationally broadcast Sunday night game, the Cards and Bucs again went back and forth until they were tied at 3 apiece in regulation.  In the top of the 10th the Cards scored not one but two runs. (They tried to score three but got thrown out at the plate.)  They led 5-3.

Then against the All-Star closer Trevor Rosenthal, the Pirates kept hitting in the bottom of the 14th, with RBIs by Marte, their surprise star catcher Cervelli and their new star outfielder Gregory Polanco, who (with two outs and bases loaded) stroked a single to right to bring in the winning run and end the game, 6-5.  The Pirates go into the break an amazing 18 games above .500 and now only 2.5 games behind St. Louis in the division.  Good enough for the second best record in the league.

Meanwhile, the SF Giants swept their three game series with the visiting Phillies, with 15 hits on Saturday and a more subdued 4-1 victory Sunday on Andrew Susac's three-run homer in the fourth.  Like the Pirates, they got great starting pitching in this last series--on Sunday it was Chris Heston for his 9th win, matching records with Madison Bumgarner as tops on the team.

The Giants go into the break with good momentum and more players getting healthy, but only 3 games above .500 and 4.5 back of Los Angeles in their division.  But at the moment they wouldn't qualify for either Wild Card spot, behind the Cubs and the Mets.

Both teams have great starting pitching, a dominant closer (though more so the Bucs), big stars (Cutch, Posey) and big young surprises--Cervelli and to some extent Polanco for the Bucs, Duffy, Heston and to some extent Susak for the Giants. The Pirates are finally living up to their potential, and though the Giants play exciting and exception ball (3 double plays Sunday) they have yet to prove they are better than a .500 team.

When the Giants managed only one of three against the Mets last week it looked bad, but the Mets have been surging too, and are now only 2 back of the Nationals in their eastern division.  The Pirates and Cards have split their 10 games with each other right down the middle, with half of those games going to extras, and the home team winning each of those.

Good News Night

Barry Bonds was hanging around the batting cage before the game, talking to players about hitting, and talking about players to coaches.  In the game, the SF Giants collected 22 hits, setting a record for the 16 years of their current ballpark.  Coincidence?

The Giants chased Phillies ace Cole Hamels in the rout, winning 15-2.  Hunter Pence hit a grand slam homer to the opposite field in his third game back.  Normally the story would be all about that.  Not this game.  Joe Panik, Matt Duffy and Justin Maxwell all had four hits. Three players with four hits hasn't happened since the 60s.  Panik hit a two run homer that got wet on a bounce. Maxwell had two doubles and a triple.  Angel Pagan, finally rested and his injury better, had three hits and two RBIs batting leadoff.  Brandon Belt (seen in conference with Barry Bonds earlier) had two doubles.

Yet the game started slowly.  Both SF Giant Madison Bumgarner and Hamels looked pretty sharp in the early innings.  The Giants scraped a run, and the Phillies got two on a homer.  It looked like another low scoring, low support Bumgarner start.  Lately the Giants have held on until he weakened in about the sixth, and then the bullpen did or didn't hold a small lead.  But the fourth just exploded with 9 runs, so not even a grand slam got the majority of them.

Plus Bumgarner continued his torrid hitting--he's over .400 for the past month or so--with  a couple of hits and an RBI.  He's still tiring in the late innings, though.

There was more good news for the Giants.  Pitcher Tim Hudson looks very close to ready, reliever Jeremy Affelt pretty close ( with Tim Lincecum better but not close) and outfielder Aoki improving faster than expected.  He may be back in a couple of weeks.

Good news also for the Pirates, who beat their division rival the St. Louis Cardinals.  When they've made a run in recent years, it was because they handled the Cards, and when they fell short--like last year--it was because they didn't.  They lost the first game of this set, but won 5-2 on Friday behind Geritt Cole's majors-leading 13th win, and Neil Walker's 2-run homer.

The Giants have the mo to get the sweep they should get against the Phillies, and that they need going into the break.  They are still 5.5 games behind LA.

Can Buy A Thrill

Imagine you are a SF Giants fan who lives within an hour or two of the city, and you don't have a lot of money.  There probably still are such people, even in this high income tech zone.  Anyway, you can't afford a lot of games but you got tickets early to a game that was available and not especially important: a Tuesday night game with the New York Mets.  Maybe you even got it from somebody sufficiently discouraged by a 7 game losing streak.

Well, you got quite a night.  First, Matt Cain in his first start at home in a year.  But at least that was scheduled, you knew that going into the ballpark.  What you didn't know, what noone knew, was that you were going to see Hunter Pence suddenly return to the Giants lineup.

I can just imagine the buzz, the swirl and then the roar of sound when he trotted out onto the field.

Then how about when he drove in the Giants first run.  And then when he singled in the Giant's second run--which turned out to be 2/3 of their total.

And then the catch and throw, which quickly got the honor of playing on a loop on the SFG's Bleacher Report page all night.  He layed out for a fly ball on the line, jumped up, and gunned down the Met heading for home.  Pretty much the play of the year so far.

Wow.

The Giants won that one 3-0.  That goose egg courtesy most of all of Matt Cain, who pitched a strong 6.

Wednesday's day game was played under the lights, as the fog played around fly balls before lifting to a gloomy marine layer.  And it stayed gloomy, as ace Mets pitcher and All Star de Grom held them in check.  The Giants hit some hard deep balls but for outs, plus a Hunter Pence homer that went foul by inches.  They also had an inning of opportunity which they blew with poor baserunning by Justin Maxwell.  Otherwise, nothing until they scored one in the 9th.

The worst part of it was they again wasted a superlative start by Jake Peavy.  He's pitched well enough to win both outings since his return, and he's lost both because the Giants didn't score behind him.

There was some managerial bad luck, too.  Bochy rested Buster Posey (with a hamstring problem) and the hurting Angel Pagan, but not Brandon Crawford, who made an uncharacteristic and costly throwing error.  Then in the 9th Andrew Susak was the tying run at the plate with two outs, with Posey set to pinch hit if he extended the inning.  Bochy couldn't pinch hit for the catcher because Posey, the only other catcher on the roster, couldn't catch with that hamstring.  But that was minor, really.  Even though Susak hit the ball up the middle but not hard enough for a hit, it was a good at-bat, and he's enough of a hitter to trust in that situation.

The Giants are unquestionably limping to the break.  But if they can win the last few, they won't be in bad shape--and the last few days have shown that the second half could be good.  Peavy and Cain are clearly ready, Pence is back.  I think Bochy learned today that Maxwell can play left field (he sure can't play center)--so with him in left, Blanco in center and Pence in right,  it's a solid defense.

Meanwhile the Pirates are sprinting to the break, as they did last year.  In fact, last year the break broke their mo.

Giant Goose Egg

That the SF Giants lost their three game series at Washington was less of a shock than their 3 duds in Miami, but it still had to be discouraging.

 Washington proved to be the better team, and the Giants didn't even see their best pitcher.  The Nationals' infield woes receded, and they have right now a superior outfield that took away several extra base hits from the Giants, who couldn't score a run for two of the games except for two solo homers.The final game was additionally frustrating for all the bad calls on balls and strikes.  Ryan Vogelsong was still pitching well when he was ejected, which didn't help matters.  George Kontos, who hadn't given up a run in ages, gave up the winner on a home run.  It ended up 3-1.

Bryce Harper of the Nationals was the top All-Star vote getter, and he showed why even in this relatively quiet series for him.  He's something of a Mickey Mantle figure, with incredible potential and putting up incredible numbers, but whose career has been marred by injuries.  And instead of off-field excesses like Mantle, he's prone to on-field temper.

The Giants return home from an 0-6 road trip depleted and exhausted, 4 games back in second place.  It could have been worse, since the Dodgers also lost on Sunday.  They have to rest Pagan or risk losing him later, and they are going to rest Panik as they did Duffy today.  Their latest roster moves bit them today when Travis Ishikawa returned to the Pittsburgh Pirates on waivers. That's an experienced bench player the Giants won't have for late season, but the Pirates now will.

 The Pirates are ending the first half going in the opposite direction of the Giants.  They won their series against Cleveland, with a 1-0 gem by Jeff Locke and a 5-3 win by league leader Gerrit Cole (his 12th victory), with a 5 run fifth capped by a double by Andrew McCutchen, who didn't make the All-Star starting lineup but will probably start anyway due to injuries.  The Giants' Aoki was the 4th outfielder in votes, but he's injured, too.  The Pirates have no starters, and the Giants only Buster Posey.  So that's exactly one of my selections that start, two if you count Cutch.

All-Star Update: NL players voted Giants shortstop Brandon Crawford onto the All-Star team, and All-Stars manager Bruce Bochy selected second baseman Joe Panik for the team, as well as pitcher Madison Bumgarner. Pirates added to the All-Star team are Andrew McCutchen and pitchers Gerrit Cole, Mark Melancon and A.J. Burnett.  It's great news for Burnett, who had a bad year last year with the Phillies, and is back with the Bucs for his 17th and last year (at least, that's his plan.)  Meanwhile, starter Cole leads the league in wins and closer Melancon is arguably the best in the league.  (So that's four of my selections.  Fans didn't pick pitchers.)

Fall of the Lakers

This week's NBA news has all the major free agents wooed by the Los Angeles Lakers going to other teams.  The best the Lakers can do is trade for a center (Roy Hibbert of Indiana) who is slow, has no shot and rebounds poorly.  He could bounce back from a bad year, he could suddenly click with the Lakers, but it's unlikely.

The Lakers aren't used to being snubbed.  And while the sports world likes to blame Kobe Bryant, it's pretty clear to me that its the Laker management.  The team has not been the same since baby Buss took over for his father.  The elder Buss was universally respected, loved by his players (Magic Johnson for one revered him.)  In the years that Jerry West was also in the front office, the Laker organization was the classiest, most astute and most powerful in the league.

Now that mantle has likely fallen to the San Antonio Spurs, who were able to take away free agent star power forward Aldridge.  I have my doubts that Aldridge will work out on the Spurs, but if he does, it will be another indication of that organization's skill.  He was a malcontent in Portland for no real reason, and if the Spurs can quell his jealousy of other players, it will signal to other stars that their organization and team ethic is for real.

In any case, top players making obscene amounts of money aren't necessarily following just the dollar signs or the major market endorsement possibilities.  Whatever it is they are looking for, the Lakers don't have it.  And it's not just prospects for winning, and it certainly is not playing with Kobe Bryant.  Whatever the word is among players, they are being cautious and skeptical at best.  This year's failures don't auger well, after last year's etc.  The pattern is set, and top players aren't getting on the Buss.

Limping to the Break

The Giants wasted a very impressive return performance by Jake Peavy to lose 2-1 to the Washington Nationals.  Things only get harder in Washington now.  Next game is Bumgarner v. Strasbourg.

The Giants made a number of roster moves prior to the game.  As mentioned here, depth in the outfield was really getting to be a problem, and they addressed that by bringing up Ryan Lollis, a fairly good hitter who has been on a tear in the minors recently.  He has speed and can play all three outfield positions.  He's said to be an enthusiastic player in the Hunter Pence mold.  He bats left.

The Giants really need him or someone right away, as Angel Pagan is obviously hurting and pressing.  I think he's in pain all the time, though that's just intuition.  But he needs rest, as the Giants limp to the All-Star break with potentially none of their original starting outfield.  Fortunately Blanco is hitting very well, Justin Maxwell not so much.  If Lollis can contribute right away, he might get them over the hump.

As it is the Giants are wasting Buster Posey's amazing hot streak, and it won't last forever.  But he's playing more first base and that's good for the long term.  He's not bad at that position, and Brandon Belt is improving as a left fielder.

Apparently Casey McGehee is gone--I missed that--and Tim Hudson is on 15 day DL.  The team sent down pitcher Broadway as well as outfielder Ishakawa, and brought up left handed pitcher Josh Osich, who pitched late against the Nats and had a scoreless eighth.

So for the short term at least, Cain and Peavy join the starting rotation, replacing Hudson and Lincecum.  Romo is apparently going to be the closer, and Hunter Strickland is likely to be the late innings rightie in Romo's previous role. Along with Cassia.  Osich joins Lopez as left hander relief, though manager Bochy said that Osich will pitch to right-side hitters as well, as he did today.

I was puzzled by the news that the Giants paid major money for the contract of an international player, just 18, who plays middle infield and is a contact hitter.  Don't they have a bunch of them on the squad now, all pretty young?

The Giants have lost 4 straight now, and like many losing streaks, bad luck is playing a part.  But they've been a streaky team all year, and the dynamics keep changing with injuries, as Bochy is forced to change batting order and player positions.  Still, with Aoki and Pence both out, it could even be worse.  The problem could be if they lose too much ground before the break.  They were nearly tied for first just a few days ago, and they're 3.5 out now, with the Dodgers playing tonight.

On the Road: Woe and Flow

The Marlins swept their three game series with the visiting Giants, and the only team more surprised at that than the Giants would be the Marlins.  A bottomfeeder this year, reeling from organizational woes, the Marlins probably did not expect to even win the series at home against the world champs.

But Justin Bohr, who the rest of the league has "figured out," beat them three times with homers, two of them with two on base.  These constitute a third of his year to date total (he had six, now he has nine.)  His walk-off was the stunner.  With the Giants leading by two runs in the last of the ninth and their closer on the mound, the first two hitters reached base and he promptly homered.  It was all over in minutes.  Before that, the Marlins had committed three errors and didn't seem to be in the same league as the Giants.

Thursday Matt Cain returned to the mound, and so did the Marlin's young ace, Jose Fernandez.  Cain was reportedly pretty sharp for four innings but lost it in the fifth, when Fernandez homered and Bohr hit another three run dinger.  Fernandez had a better first outing, going a strong six, as well as homering.

What hurts the most is that these were supposed to be the gimme games.  The tough ones are ahead, with the strong Washington Nationals.  And the Giants will start off with another season debut by an injured pitcher, Jake Peavy.  The Giants kept the Marlins from scoring after the fifth mostly because of pitcher George Kontos.  But he's unlikely to be available for long relief if Peavy gets in trouble or tires early.  Apparently the Giants will also be going to a different closer, as manager Bochy diagnosed closer Casilla's problems Wednesday as arm fatigue.

Stuff like walkoff losses and a closer losing a game happen during the course of any season.  But it should also motivate being smarter.  If the rest of the league had figured out Bohr, and he hit his three homers on pretty much the same pitch in the same location, shouldn't the coaches take notice and figure out what they missed?  Same with Casilla's arm.

Meanwhile, the Pittsburgh Pirates went to Detroit and swept that three game series.  The first they won with grit, the other two with power.  Neil Walker hit two homers in the middle game.  They got great pitching, especially from Liriano today.

Sprinting for Midseason

An off day Monday for the Giants and the Pirates, so taking a breath to take a longer view.  One of those assessments of the season so far makes a persuasive case that neither will win their divisions.  The Dodgers and the Cardinals are dealing with more injuries than many other clubs, even the Giants at this point, but they're holding down first place--the Cards by a considerable margin.  It's true the Giants had that commanding lead at the All-Star break last year and lost it, so it isn't impossible.  But the reasoning is sound--it is more likely that the Giants and Pirates will again face each other in the Wild Card game.

As for the Pirates, since its been awhile since I've been back in the Burgh for any length of time, I read with interest this claim that the Pirates have replaced the Steelers and Penguins as the most popular sports team in the city.  The article quotes a Pittsburgh sports fan's blunt assessment: “The Steelers are thugs, and the Penguins are crybabies. The Pirates are good guys and work hard. It’s easy to root for this team.”

The piece is mostly about the supposed decline of the Steelers but what this guy says about the Pirates rings true.  They do seem like good guys that work hard.  I would attribute my own distance from the Steelers to my dismay over professional football in general.  I've been unhappy for some time with the emphasis on hard hits (fed by sports media) over other aspects of the game, and the revelations on concussions kind of sealed that deal for me.  Of course, I still secretly read everything I could find on this year's Steelers draft picks.

But as a more active fan, baseball has really become my game.  I admire the Giants team--they're good guys who work hard, too, and they are easy to root for.  So I've filled out my All-Star ballots with a combination of Giants and Pirates.  Mostly Giants I must confess--I recently switched my third baseman to Matt Duffy, how could I not after the week he's had?  But I also switched out one Giant for the Pirates' Sterling Marte in the outfield (I still have Aoki out there, though.)

How many Giants fans today would trade Matt Duffy for Pablo Sandoval?  Pretty much zero I'll bet.  

On A Clear Day You Can Hit Forever

On a clear day you can hit forever, at the San Francisco Giants home park at least.  Blue skies and at times blinding sun helped 31 hits happen, including a bunch by San Diego in their strange eighth inning.  A parade of pinch-hitters dumped hit after hit off Giants relievers and the Padres turned a 9-2 laugher into a 9-8 squeaker, at least until the last half of the inning when the Giants scored 4.  The distinctly un-SF final was Giants 13 Padres 8.

The Giants not only hit 19 times, they seldom settled for singles.  They hit four triples for the first time at home in San Francisco (Belt had two), plus 4 doubles (Posey had two.)  Seven players had more than one hit in the game (including 3 with 3 hits), and 9 Giants hit safely (including pitcher Chris Heston, who drove in a run.)

The hit stats obscure the great outing that Heston had on the mound.  The no-hitter two starts back was a career achievement, but how he pitched in this game I think turned him into a starter for SF for a long time to come.  He's also an asset fielding his position and hitting.

(Now that I said that I had a weird feeling that the Giants may be about to trade a pitcher for more bat.  But let that pass.)

Anyway, three excellent starts against San Diego, one bad luck (and dead bat) loss, so a series win.  Colorado next, another division foe.  The Giants hit the Padres best starter and best reliever, so this hitting thing may be for real, even at home.  Travis Ishikawa rejoined the club yesterday, got a great ovation by fans taking their first opportunity to recognize his home run last season that won the pennant.  He wasn't among those getting hits today, and he didn't figure in the scoring.  But with Pence and now Aoki out for several more weeks, they need gloves in the outfield at a minimum.  Blanco continues to perform well at the plate and in the field.

  

Slam

They needed this one.  On the strength of Buster Posey's second grand slam in his last five games, the San Francisco Giants defeated the San Diego Padres 6-0.  A victory, yes, but a victory at home.

Ryan Vogelsong pitched 6 innings of shutout ball, but Madison Bumgarner did the same the night before, only better: he had 13 strikeouts in 7 plus innings, and a shutout into the 8th.  But the Giants had scored just two runs, and a two-strike double brought in two runs for the Padres.  The game stayed tied until San Diego won 3-2 in extras.

That was the first game of the homestand, and brought back melancholy memories of the last one.  But Wednesday's victory at least changed the mood.  The Giants are even more hitter-depleted than the last homestand, with their potent hitter Aoki injured, and Hunter Pence now not expected back for weeks.  They are about to get richer in starting pitchers with Peavy and Cain returning, but it's bats they need.

Good things in the batting department though: Blanco is hitting well, and now so is Joe Susak.  He had his first triple tonight, and scored the sixth run.

Odd thing about those two Posey grand slams.  Today I had just turned on the radio, and the first pitch I heard called was the one he slammed.  Something very similar happened in the game in LA, although I think the home run call had just been made.  So I'm improving.  As I tuned in I was thinking that what the Giants needed the most was a big win.  And turns out they got it.

Come 11

The San Francisco Giants behind starter Ryan Vogelsong won their league-leading 11th shutout of the season in Seattle Thursday, while Gerritt Cole won his majors-leading 11th victory as the Pittsburgh Pirates swept the Chicago White Sox.  It was the Pirates' eighth straight victory.

But the disquieting aspect of the Giants season is they get shut out almost as often as they shut out others.  That was the case on Wednesday night when they wasted a stellar Bumgarden start with a 1-0 loss, though against the best pitcher in the American League.

The Giants bats woke up against a rookie pitcher on Thursday, with Matt Duffy's triple the most dramatic of their hits.  If you don't count Brandon Belt's monumental not-home run that the wind blew back from deep center field.  Duffy and Panik remain the guys you'd go to see play regardless.

So the Giants split their 4 games with Seattle, and remain 2.5 behind the Dodgers.  They now head to LA.

A feature of the two games in Seattle was the conspicuous presence of thousands of Giants fans in the stands.  They chanted, they cheered, they were the crowd sound on the radio.  Amazing.

Injured Giants are starting to return.  Blanco comes back Friday, Peavy is in the wings with Cain so far looking like he'll come soon after.  I don't have the patience to go through all the teams in those evaluations of which team needs what, but the Giants are going to have to make some decisions regarding pitchers, and I've got no answers.  The outfield gets healed when Hunter Pence does.  They could use a utility infielder with some hitting.  So far they've shown admirable patience with McGehee but he's not producing. The other night when he came up with men on base again, I wonder if he had the same thought as I did--with two outs at least he can't hit into a double play. Maybe that relaxed him, because he hit a double.

 A number of the Giants are streaky, including Posey, Belt and Pagan.  Others are still question marks, like Justin Maxwell.  McG just doesn't seem to be working out.  Unless they don't have a prospect ready, he's an obvious roster move.  But that's easy for me to say.  I don't even know the guy.

Happy Warriors

Game 6 of the NBA finals went pretty much as I expected, at least in general.  There were the coaching chess games, as Cleveland went big again and tried to deny Steph Curry his outside shot, but Curry is also a court general and when the time came he hit the dagger 3s.  Golden State seized the initiative early, weathered some LeBron runs and hit the fourth quarter shots that put it away.  Golden State Warriors are NBA champs, not even thinkable for a long time but this was their year.

Andre Igudala who started the last three games won the MVP, but though he played big and was a catalyst, his insertion was only part of the Warriors figuring out how to beat Cleveland.  Once they figured it out in game 4 and executed in 5 and 6, they could win just about every game against the injury-depleted Cavs, and I'll bet James knew it.

The Warriors like the Giants are a likable team with personable and generous players, and so are a great fit for the Bay Area.  They've got a future as contenders for a nice long stretch.  Nothing will make me like Cleveland, but they are likely to be back in the hunt next year.

Meanwhile the Giants had a day game and won it, breaking their losing and home losing streaks.  Matt Duffy homered with authority, and a couple of Giants who needed hits and RBIs got them (McGehee and Pagan), though the woeful Mariners outfield helped more than a little.  Now the series moves to Seattle.  The Giants really should win both of the remaining games--their slump made Arizona and Seattle much better than they are.  Then they get the Dodgers in LA, though neither team is throwing their best pitchers at each other, and then to another woeful team in San Diego.

The Pirates followed their 1-0 extra innings gem with an 11-0 rout and a 3-0 shutout (that's 3 shutouts in a row if you're counting) against the White Sox.

Flying

The exciting game on Sunday was the Golden State Warriors beating Cleveland in game 5 of the NBA finals.  As I predicted they lost game 3 and won game 4 big, and by winning game 5 they're in the driver's seat.  Steph Curry had a monster game to match James and exceed him in timing his dazzling highlight shots.  The Warriors are not intimidated anymore if they ever were.  They can deal with Cleveland's bullies and Curry isn't cowed by James.

The Warriors surprised the Cavs in game 4 by going with a smaller lineup.  They did it again in game 5 and the Cavs tried to offset it by going small themselves.  But it didn't work.  They've lost big and small.  Still, I believe Bogut will have some important moments (and minutes) for GS before it's over.

While complimenting Curry, James said he wasn't worried because he himself is the greatest player in the world.  That of course is what's wrong.  He's as close to a one man show as anyone has ever been in the finals, and it's not enough.  Curry has a strong team and a strong coach who--even though this is his first year coaching--has won championships as a player.  I wouldn't be surprised if game 6 is a virtual rerun of 5, with the Cavs staying close or even slightly ahead for much of the game but unable to sustain in the fourth quarter.  The only fly in the ointment possibly is Steph Curry suffering from dehydration effects in the short turnaround for Tuesday.  If both he and James are worn out it could be an ugly game.  Still, chances are it's Golden State in six.  Right now they are the better team.

By contrast, the San Francisco Giants are doing their Mr. Hyde at home act.  That road trip and redeye flight home after a night game with the Mets (which they lost) must have really done them in, as they can't hit or score, and Sunday they couldn't field either.  They were swept in another home series, and have lost 8 in a row at home.

But on happier matters, you'd think that two players with absurdly perfect baseball names--like power hitter Brandon Belt and second baseman Joe Panik--would be enough for any one team.  (Matt Duffy isn't a bad baseball name either.)  But now the Giants brought up a relief pitcher named Mike Broadway.  Another hard thrower in the bullpen, at least for awhile.

Stories Sunday said the Giants are scouting a Reds starting pitcher.  This while Cain and Peavy are warming up in the minors.  Seems a bit odd.  Vogelsong seems most likely to lose his spot in the rotation if one of them comes back, but if both do, is there room for anyone else?

Hitting into two rally-killing double plays on Sunday may have finally doomed Casey McGehee.  He was given a chance to get his hitting back in the minors, did well there, but hasn't done much but make big outs since he's been back.

Sunday also showed Bochy that Justin Maxwell can't play center field.  He not only muffed a routine fly for a run, the substitute radio announcing team suggested the double over his head that scored two runs earlier may have been catchable.  Unfortunately two outfielders, Pence and Blanco are DL.  The team brought up outfielder Jarrett Parker who got his first major league hit Sunday.  Which was about the only thing the crowd had to cheer about.  At least until later, the Golden State game.

Meanwhile the Pittsburgh Pirates are flying high, having swept a 3 game series with the Phillies by winning 1-0 in the 11th.  The powerful Pirates won the series with pitching and defense, and a few timely hits.  A. J. Burnett pitched nine scoreless on Sunday, and earlier in the series Garrett Cole became the Major League's first ten game winner.

Of course everybody beats up on the Phillies these days, and the Pirates are still 6 games back of St. Louis.  Even after underperforming against Milwaukee they've moving basically in the right direction.  All the pieces are there, but they'll need to put them together with some consistency in the meat of the season.

Despite their recent woeful play, the Giants are only 3.5 back of Los Angeles. They're so streaky that it's hard to figure out whether they are overperforming when they win or underperforming when they lose.  Basically they seem a really talented team.  They look to remain competitive.  

Merry Chris

It could have been Joe Panik's night--he hit a long home run back in his home state, with lots of family and friends from Hopewell Junction in the stands.  Matt Duffy clobbered one, too, and Buster Posey had three hits.  But no question whose night it was: rookie pitcher Chris Heston threw a no-hitter in the Big Apple, in just his 13th start in the bigs.  Oh, and he had two hits and drove in two of the 5 Giants runs.

Many, many years ago I got sleepy listening to the Pirates game on the radio.  I had school the next day and besides, nothing was happening.  The next day I read in disbelief that Harvey Haddix, my favorite Pirates pitcher, had thrown a perfect game for 12 innings plus, a no-hitter for 12 and 2/3. Even though the Bucs had 12 hits they hadn't scored, and Haddix and the Pirates lost it in the 13th inning.  One of the greatest pitching feats in baseball history--largely forgotten because of the loss--and I couldn't believe that of all the Pirates games I'd listened to that year, I missed most of this one.

Those were the days when even the announcers obeyed the injunction not to jinx a no-hitter by anticipating it.  On Tuesday I didn't hear the Giants announcers talk about it until after I'd figured out on my own that it was happening, although there were some pointed references to the Mets baserunners all being hit batsmen (three, including two in one inning.)  But by the 7th inning they had said it out loud and every out was marked.  By then the Giants had a five run lead and this was the remaining drama.

So this time I was listening, and it was sure exciting--especially when Heston ended his no-hitter by striking out the side in the last of the 9th.  There were lots of Giants fans at the game, and even the Mets fans apparently were excited to be witnessing baseball history.  Also in the stands was Heston's first baseball coach, from Little League through high school.  They live near each other today. He was in New York ostensibly visiting relatives but really to see the game-- it was the first major league game he saw Heston pitch.  Amazing.

 Heston, Duffy, Panik--not the names associated with the Giants before.  But Tuesday in New York, they made their names forever in Giants lore, and they're playing big for the 2015 Giants, and integrated into this team that suddenly seems loaded with talent.  That's why they play the games.

Local happiness dampened by the Golden State Warriors losing another close one to Cleveland.  I kind of expected that if they lost game 2, they would lose game 3--the first at Cleveland.  I expect they'll win big in the next game, and then--as it so often is--the fifth game is pivotal.  That was usually the Bulls and Lakers formula--win game 1 and 5, whatever else you did, on the way to the championship.  

After their five game losing streak the Giants went to the White House, for the third time in Obama's presidency (and the past five years.) They professed to be inspired by it when they went to Philadelphia, but for awhile they seemed to be playing down to the level of the awful Phillies.  They played just well enough to win 2 of 3.  A day off in New York City must have energized them, as they faced one of the Mets young guns.  They got to him and even more to the bullpen.  Then they partied in the clubhouse after the no-hitter.  So far they're loving New York.

Big Bucs

The Giants head for the White House to receive congratulations for their World Series win, but they also head east on a road trip with a five game losing streak.  The Pirates, who more than survived their difficult West Coast trip, came up big and won three straight over the Giants.  They looked like the potential world champs some predicted they could be, before the season started.  They featured two brilliant starts by Cole and Liriano around a good enough to win start by Burnett, with Cutch continuing his blistering hitting and some other erstwhile quiet Pirates bats (Jody Mercer, big time) coming alive.

The Giants reverted to their old recipe for losing--though Hudson and Vogelsong had strong starts, Chris Heston didn't, an apparently overstretched bullpen under-performed and the timely hits were scarce, plus untimely errors and mental mistakes.  The Pirates bullpen was not perfect but strong enough not to allow late inning comebacks.

The Pirates certainly look better than their record, with starting pitching and power conspicuous strengths.  It's going to be an interesting season.

Quandary Series

After woeful starts, they are two of the hottest teams in baseball, and they happen to be the two teams I follow, one from my childhood "hometown" and the other my current home area.  So what could go wrong?

Well, this week they play each other.

In the past this wasn't that much of a problem, I could be happy whichever won.  And when something was at stake, as in last season's Wild Card game, my allegiance was the Pirates.  They lost, the Giants won, and I happily rooted for the Giants all the way to the World Championship.

But now that I am more regularly listening to the Giants radio broadcasts, I wonder how I can stay neutral--that is, rooting for both.  I guess I'll see.

So it's a three game series.  The Giants have the advantage of home field, but the Pirates rotation has come around to their best pitchers: Cole, Burnett and Liriano, against Vogelsong, Heston and Hudson.  But those three Giants starters arguably pitched better in their last outings than MadBum (who on Sunday had a perfect game going for five and fell apart in the seventh) and Lincecum.  The Giants won the three games the second line pitched, and lost the other two.

The Giants have the better record.  Neither of them has absolute momentum coming in--the Giants lost their last two to the Braves (Sunday's game was so typical of why I hate the Braves--they won that kind of game too often against the 90s Pirates), and the Pirates got shellacked by the Padres on Sunday.

But I'm sure I'll enjoy at least hearing the at-bats etc. for the Pirates, since I haven't seen or heard any of their games this year.  Maybe that's the key--concentrate on the individuals.

Unfortunately for my desired equity, it's a three game series, so somebody is going to win it.  And lose it.

Friday was a great night to be at the ball park.  Saturday night was miserable.  It was cold both nights, but a lot colder when you get beat 7-0.  When I was listening to the first few innings, Dave started explaining what the meteorologist told him about why it's so cold this May. And he did so without saying the words El Nino.)  But the inning was about over, so he had to just explain the rest to himself, which you could hear in the background.  These guys are funny, and are allowed to be funny in a fairly sophisticated way because of the Bay Area audience.

And so a note on Bay Area baseball.  On Sunday Jon Miller talked a bit about this weekend when the Giants and A's were both home, on opposite sides of the Bay, and both drew big crowds.  Comparatively speaking, San Francisco-Oakland isn't all that big.  But baseball must be.  Chicago has the Cubs and the White Sox, but I don't think either does all that well these days. For a city supporting two big league baseball teams in this style,  I wonder if you have to go back to when New York City was itself bigger than every state (except of course New York, but including California) and they supported three home teams: the Giants, Dodgers and Yankees.

Big Night in SF

The San Francisco Giants defeated the Atlanta Braves 4-1 on Friday night, and moved into first place in their division for the first time this year.  Before that run was scored, they tied a club record for consecutive scoreless innings.  It was their 13th victory in the last 15 games.  Tim Hudson, facing the team that let him go to the Giants for the first time since, got the win.

In the stands for this home game was Willy Mays, and also the NBA MVP Steph Curry of the NBA championship series-bound Golden State Warriors (above photo), with their home across the bay.

Curry's buddy (and fellow MVP) Buster Posey hit a two run homer in the first and knocked in a third run with a double in the eighth, which is getting to be the Giants' favorite inning, especially with teams like the Braves that have good starting pitching but undependable bullpens.

Speaking of Golden State, their championship run hit a snag with the news that star Klay Thompson is uncertain for the finals with a concussion.  They start next week.  Cleveland is also banged up, but Thompson is a key to GS's offense, and facing the offense of James it's a big loss.

While I'm on other sports, the NFL recently made a change in extra points, to make them more "competitive."  The upshot of the change is that players will risk injury on extra-point plays now, which in this concussion-conscious time is tone deaf to say the least, and reprehensible altogether.  They should be reducing plays (like kickoffs) that create violent contact and otherwise look at sweeping changes (like the size of the field) that will address the concussion issue, or they will wind up with no players coming up (school teams are already feeling the parental boycott) except those who are so poor that they will risk mutilation in order to make money.  Welcome to the Roman Empire.

Getting Right

The San Francisco Giants survived the exhaustion challenge of 4 games in 3 days plus hours of rain delays in the thin air of Colorado including a long evening game before a day game in Milwaukee--and will return with no less than a 4-3 trip, with a good chance to get tomorrow's day game and come back with a 5-2 road trip.
 Update 5/28: That's just what they did--a late inning rally gave them a sweep in Milwaukee and a 5-2 road trip.  And first game at home a shutout (fourth in a row at home) by Chris Heston plus relievers, another breakout 8th inning rally for a 7-0 victory over Atlanta, my favorite team to beat.  Hunter Strickland, brought up for the double-header, has stayed with the team and has yet to give up a run, and maybe not even a hit in several relieving stints.  He's added new pitches to his blazing fastball. Out of their last 14 games, the Giants have won 12.  

Overall the Giants won 8 straight, then lost two, and that was another test--how for real are they, or will they lose 6 or 8 in a row as they were doing in April?  They won the next two, with lots of hitting and adequate pitching, plus clutch plays in the field.  Winning 10 of 12  both at home and away, that's for real.

Meanwhile the Pittsburgh Pirates have won 5 straight, featuring three straight in which their pitchers got double-digit strikeouts.  Andrew McCuctchen has come around to the extent that he was a National League player of the week.

So in recent days, baseball very very good to me.

During this run the Giants officially made young Matt Duffy their starting third baseman.   Duffy and Panik are two young players who give off great vibes, and they fit so well with the modest professionalism of Brandon Crawford and Buster Posey.  With Hunter Pence for flamboyance and MadBum for being MadBum, this is an appealing team.  And as the announcers pointed out today, most of the team either has Bay Area ties (grew up there, school, family, teams) or are confirmed San Franciscans.  So it's easy to like this team, especially (of course) when they are winning.  And is anybody really missing the Panda?

Brandon Crawford in particular is off to a great start with so many key hits and RBIs, solid fielding and spectacular plays like today when he might well have saved the victory by laying out for a line drive headed to hitville.  Speaking of Brandons, Belt hit another monster home run.  Right now most of the starting lineup is hitting around .300.  The Giants often have good or a very good first half of the season (as they did last year), but seems to me in the past they've been carried for the first months by one or two guys.  They've turned things around from April and have momentum going into June, all through the lineup.

 They passed a test of stamina with this ridiculous holiday weekend road trip. The bigger test will come in the dog days after the All Star break.  Last year they were a great team the first half, and a really mediocre one the second half, until the playoffs. I'll try not to anticipate and just enjoy this good baseball while it's on my radio.

With this weekend's win, Lincecum became the third winningest pitcher in Giants history.  And though I didn't hear anyone mention it, I believe today's game ended Buster Posey's hitting streak at 18, although it took a play almost as good as Crawford's to do it.

The Boys of Zero

The San Francisco Giants returned home for three games with the Los Angeles Dodgers, first place in their division and the hottest hitting team in the bigs.

The Giants pitchers gave up zero runs in the 27 innings of the three games, and won 2-0, 4-0 and 4-0.  By the time the Dodgers left, the Giants were but a game and a half behind them, in second place.

The starters pitched very well--the operative word being "pitched."  Hudson, Lincecum and Bumgarner got into trouble in various innings, none of them was throwing overpowering stuff consistently, but they pitched their way out of tight spots, aided by superior fielding.

The Giants hit homers (a titanic blast by Posey, MadBum's shot that became the winning run in his game), had timely singles (including RBIs by Hunter Pence in his first games in San Francisco this season) and extra base hits, and also scored on hustle and base-running.  It was a fun series to listen to, full of baseball drama and derring-do.

Now the Giants head back on the road, first stop Colorado where they've had their problems, battling the elevation and close-in fences, but the Rockies are rocky at the moment and the Giants have been out-powering teams used to busting fences.  The pitchers will have to adjust, and it's an exhausting-sounding series, with the first game Friday and a double-header on Saturday.

Giant Power

Who are these guys?  In the past two games--Friday and Saturday in Cincinnati--the San Francisco Giants scored a total of 21 runs, winning 10-2 and 11-2.  Before last week they hadn't scored more than 7 runs in any one game. Their average was 3.  And home runs were flying out of the park, including two by Brandon Belt--his first two of the season--and Brandon Crawford's fourth career grand slam.

Update: Make that 30 runs in three games, as the Giants prevailed in Cincy on Sunday 9-8, on Belt's THIRD home run in three games.  Hunter Pence had his first homer of the season, on the second day of his season.  But perhaps the most impressive moments were at the end of the game.  The runfest had all the pitchers rattled, including Cincy's "unhittable" closer who had the bases loaded before he got the final out.  In comes Casilla for the Giants in the last of the ninth--and retires the side on nine pitches, three strikeouts.  The coolest relief appearance of the year.

On Saturday the Giants were further energized by the return of Hunter Pence.  He'd come back earlier than expected from his tuneup in Sacramento where he hit two homers in three games.  But big league pitching?  In his first at bat he scorched a double, and flew around the bases to score on a single.  He went 3 for 4 and scored three times.

The starting pitching was as good as it needed to be.  Madison Bumgarner on Friday was not at his best but he stymied the Reds when they got men on base. Both starter Ryan Vogelsong and reliever Gene Machi had shaky moments on Saturday, too, but they also kept the Reds at bay.  Three of the four Cincy runs in the two games came on solo homers.

These two games were so different in a giddy way that the radio announcers were talking tongue in cheek about remembering the old days when the games were decided by one run.  Remember that?  The outbreak of power on the road is what the Giants need.  Everyone in the lineup is capable of hitting one out.  But in the long run they need homers on the road in ordinary games to make up for less than perfect pitching, fielding and baserunning--and bad luck.  This is a great start.

Brandon Belt is becoming the definition of a streaky hitter, and maybe that says something about the small difference between success and failure against today's pitching.  A little better vision, a little different quickness or whatever.

Brandon Crawford's first major league hit in his career was a grand slam.  Is he turning into an unlikely power hitter?  He's leading the club in homers and RBIs, and that no longer seems so unusual.

Getting Sober

The Giants last two losses--the last of two in Houston, then the first of a 4 game set in Cincinnati--suggest why they may be a .500 team this year: without home run hitters, their margin for error is small, especially on the road.

The two games were very similar: the starting pitchers were shaky, and left on the mound an inning or a batter too many.  Managerial gambles didn't pay off, there was sloppy play especially on the bases.  More than anything, there was a lack of key hits with runners on base.  So even though the Giants took a lead or at least a tie into late innings, the likelihood of them losing seemed pretty high.

When this team does well, they win by one run.  When they are less than near perfect, they lose by one run.  As they did both of these games.  The difference in both--since pitching was less than stellar for both teams--was clutch hitting and especially home runs.

The Giants only home runner hitter now in the lineup is Brandon Belt, and he's been striking out consistently again, after a nice streak of hitting at home.  He has yet to hit a single home run this season.  Other Giants, like Posey or Crawford or really almost anyone, are certainly capable of homering in these homer-friendly parks on the road.  But none are consistent at it.

Michael Moore's homers carried the Giants early last year, and he's gone. It might be awhile before Hunter Pence can be expected to return to form, even after he returns to the lineup.  It's hard to see what the Giants have to offer other teams in trade for a power hitter, but they've pulled rabbits out of a hat before.  Failing that, the law of averages suggests they're going to be a very good team that can't put away lesser teams, and so are always in danger of losing because of one mistake, or one whiff with runners on base.  The games will still be exciting, but to get to postseason will likely take a lucky streak at the right time.

As to what's wrong with the Pirates now, I've got no clue.  They've lost two low-scoring games to the Phillies.  So maybe they haven't turned the corner after all.

The Young and the Great

They're an old team, say the critics.  But youth was served up piping hot today as two young Giants starred: rookie pitcher Chris Heston--brought up last month from the minors because of injuries to the aging starting rotation--pitched a two hitter, a complete game with 10 strikeouts, which only two veteran pitchers could match all last year.  And for the second game in a row, young Matt Duffy brought in the winning run with a key hit--this time with a 3 hit, 5 RBI game.  The SF Giants beat the Astros in Houston 8-1.  In the Giants last game of the homestand on Sunday against the Marlins, Duffy got his first walkoff hit in the majors, winning the game with two outs in the last of the ninth. That's his swing in the photo above.

Granted that Houston is struggling, and key errors gave the Giants a bunch of runs, but it was highest run total for the Giants all year.  I'm guessing what impressed baseball execs throughout the league was that Heston knew how to pitch with a lead.  He stayed aggressive, as evidenced by those ten strikeouts (even granted that the Astros strike out a lot.)

Can't say enough about Duffy.  Maybe pitchers don't know him yet but he's taken advantage of situations and shown some power.  His double with the bases loaded in the third inning bounced over the wall or it would have been a triple.  Duffy has twice as many hits with the bases loaded as the rest of the team combined.

It's fun when the young guys are coming through.  The announcers add to everything.  A few days ago, when the Giants had completed their fourth shutout of the homestand, one (Kiper or maybe Miller) noted in the deadpan but enthusiastic voice used to announce meaningful records, "and the Giants won every one of them."  "Amazing!" Dave Flemming said.

Last night, Barry Bonds chose two of these announcers--Duane Kiper and Mike Krukow--to introduce him at the awards dinner inducting him into the Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame.  Here's something very interesting they said earlier:

Asked for his favorite memory of the slugger, Kuiper pointed not to the diamond but to a plane ride. They were on the team flight headed for Atlanta, where Greg Maddux was scheduled to start for the Braves. Krukow and Kuiper were talking about Maddux when the hitter said, "You want to know something? I'll tell you the first seven pitches he's going to throw me." Bonds was so sure of the sequence that he insisted that the broadcasters write it down. 

 "It never got to seven, because he hit the sixth pitch," Kuiper recalled. "But the first five were right. He knew exactly what Maddux was going to do to him. "

So if he knew what Maddux was going to do him, then he knew what most guys were going to do to him. You don't think that's an advantage?" Krukow said: "Bonds is the best player I ever saw that I was old enough to appreciate. I saw Willie Mays when I was a kid, so I couldn't really appreciate how great he was -- I mean, I knew he was fabulous.

 "But you can actually see Bonds' genius at the plate. If you break down the mechanics of his swing, they were perfect to hit for average. They were perfect to hit for power. And he had one of the most brilliant minds ever to step into a batter's box."

Barry Bonds unites my baseball enthusiasms--I saw him play for both the Pittsburgh Pirates and the SF Giants.  He was one of my favorite players to watch on those Pirates teams, and what he did as a Giant is amazing. Beyond the whatever,  Krukow suggests why.

Meanwhile, the Bucs are continuing to stay hot, matching big hits with solid pitching.  They've also recently climbed just above .500  but like the Giants they've dug themselves a hole in their division.  They are both about six games behind.  The Pirates when they are hitting is the more formidable club--but you know, that was also sort of true last year.

Giant Streak

This streak has to be said.  The Giants beat the Padres 6-0 on Tuesday evening, for their fifth victory in a row.  It was also their third consecutive shutout, including the last two blanking the Padres, statistically the hottest hitting team in the National League.  And suddenly the Giants are in second place, 3.5. games behind the Dodgers.

As in the previous games, the Giants got excellent starting pitching deep into the game.  This time it was Ryan Vogelsong, starting only because of injuries, but with streaks of solid and even great starts in his past with the Giants.  He pitched a shutdown seven innings. In the final two innings  Kontos and Petit challenged the Padres hitters and struck them out.

That much was the same, but there were three notable differences from yesterday: first, they fielded well with some excellent plays, including one by Brandon Belt, and second, speaking of Belt, his hitting came around.  Third, they got hits to bring in baserunners pretty efficiently.  It was 5-0 after 5, and Joe Panik made it six with his second home run in the past three days.  Which puts him on pace for, what, 55? Okay, maybe not.

On the downside, Pagan was out of the lineup with an injury to his finger that hampers his ability to swing the bat.  Tomorrow a day game so he's unlikely to play then either.

On the other side of the continent, the Pirates are going the other way--still not scoring runs but giving up even more.  Their streak is a losing one, I think at four now.

Giants de Mayo

More on the Giants, after their Monday night 2-0 victory over the hot-hitting San Diego Padres--another shutout, this one while committing four fielding errors, the first time in more than 80 years a Giants team has shut out the opponent with that many errors.  The difference: Madison Bumgarner, who took a no-hitter into the seventh, went 7 and a third giving up two hits.

Besides contagious high level of starting pitching and consistent relief pitching, what other factors account for recent success?  Overall the new lineup is working, with Aoki replacing Pagan at leadoff, and Pagan feasting at .350 hitting third.  And so far staying healthy.  There's a nice rhythm to it, and at its best it works as last season's club did in the postseason.  Run production is the chief problem--missing the key hit.

Panik in his second season is still very solid, Susac is a valuable addition again this year and deserves to stay with the club, Maxwell is fielding well and hitting for power, McGehee is not yet consistent at the plate, Crawford is off to a very good start, Posey's batting average is moving up closer to normal.  Brandon Belt however is still floundering.  He made two of the four errors tonight (though charged with only one of them), and though he had a double and is showing some signs of regaining power, he's still a bit flummoxed at the plate.  If his fielding deteriorates and his hitting doesn't sharpen, it's a problem.

And even in this relative prosperity the Giants are still not hitting much, especially with runners aboard.

Giants Weekend

It's been a baseball weekend for me.  Saturday listening to SF Giants day game, then later through the miracle of YouTube I finished watching the 2004 ALCS in which the Red Sox came back from three to none to win four in a row over the Yankees, propelling them into a four game sweep and the first Boston World Series victory since 1918.  Then rewatched the 30-30 docu on that historic ALCS. At the time, with a crucial election coming up etc. I hadn't watched the ALCS until the 7th game, when I finally caught on to the historic possibilities for the team that had once been my home team, in the years I lived in Cambridge MA.

Then today listened to another Giants day game, another victory, with another twist of history.  Saturday the game ended with a baserunner hit by the ball, a bizarre finish that none of the experienced announcing team nor any of the players interviewed could remember ever seeing before.  It turns out it had happened, but was very rare.  And then, before the day was out, it happened again, in the Dodgers game. Oh the wonders of baseball.

The weekend victories completed the Giants 3 game sweep of the Angels, drawing them ever closer to a .500 record.  The most promising aspect was the starting pitching--Tim Hudson a strong 8 innings plus, Tim Lincecum a strong 8 and a shutout.  The game began with the first two Giants at the plate hitting home runs--the first time that quirk had happened on Giants teams in 51 years.  The 2-0 lead became 5-0 by the late innings.

The Giants aren't the only team struggling with a number of key injuries or gaps--arguably the Angels are, and the Dodgers certainly are.  But at the moment the Giants seem to be adapting to adversity the best.  But they will be tested with the hot bats of the Padres coming into town, a team that some project to win the division they share with the Giants, and most place ahead of the Giants.  Hunter Pence is taking batting practice but the two starting pitchers who are down are still weeks away.

Meanwhile the Pirates seem to have lost the ability to hit, and have lost three tight low scoring games to St. Louis.  Given each team's circumstances, the Giants are probably overperforming but the Pirates are underperforming.

Anyway, I enjoyed this baseball weekend.  It's just a joy to listen to the Giants announcing team (and fun to hear Jon Miller's voice on 30-30 calling some of the 2004 Red Sox moments, probably for ESPN radio.)  Baseball and the radio go together for me, and these guys are knowledgeable, informative during the game (an eye for pitches that I envy) and a lot of fun, especially when teamed up and for the post-game show when they all gather.  It's usually the only time I hear Mike Krukow, and he's the most interesting about aspects of the game, particularly the pitchers. Plus you get seagulls in the background--how great is that?  I've said all this before but it's still true.  I still enjoy them.  

Giants Over Dodgers

The first place Los Angeles Dodgers went into San Francisco with a seven game winning streak.  They left with a three game losing streak.  The Giants swept the series, comfortably outhitting the Dodgers in the first game, then getting the timely hits in the last at-bats of the following two.  A key was excellent starting pitching from Tim Lincecum, Madison Bumgarner and Ryan Vogelsong, and some key relief work.

The final game in the series went 10 innings and the Giants won it in Giants fashion--Pagan singled, stole second, and after an intentional walk to Belt, the Giants latest new hope Justin Maxwell roped one down the third base line to score Pagan with the winning run.

It was a great end to a dismal home stand, as the Giants particularly used the home field last at-bat to good advantage.  They have to feel good especially about the pitching they got.  Newer players are finding their space and veterans are starting to come around.  Pagan is showing he can again be a catalyst---his problem has always been staying healthy.  When Buster Posey gets going and Hunter Pence returns, the pop in the lineup will improve.

But out of this triumph the Giants go into the sinkhole of Colorado, where they don't often do well at that altitude.  They do have their rookie hope Chris Hatcher on the mound tonight, their best starter so far this season, and good starting pitching is weirdly infectious.

Early Baseball Blues

A terrible start for the San Francisco Giants, and not much better for the Pittsburgh Pirates.  Both have won three games each.  The Giants started well, plucky and opportunistic until they got hit with more injuries.  Thursday night I listened to the last several innings of a home game (it went 12 innings) with the surprise first place club of Colorado, in which they came back several times to tie the game but could not seal the deal (which could have been taking that ball four with the bases loaded).   They lost their seventh in a row, and have yet to win at home.  Their pitching is wobbly (starting, relief), their hitting pale, their scoring nonexistent and their fielding is not great.  Can't get much worse.

Adding insult to much injury even before the season started, Pablo Sandoval starting bad-mouthing the entire team (except for a few) and its management (except for Bruce Bochy), stating that he'd decided very early last year that he wasn't returning to the Giants because salary negotiations showed a lack of respect to him and his agent.  This despite his postseason declaration that he wanted to remain a Giant forever.

Though Sandoval has been doing pretty well so far on his new team of the Boston Red Sox, and they are leading the league at the moment, his comments probably helped the separation process in San Francisco, among fans as well as players.  Turns out he's a hypocrite.  So good riddance.

The Giants faltering is expected, though not so early or so thoroughly--they're bound to get better than this--but the Pirates slow start is more puzzling.  Still, they may well be coming around, with the Cutch feeling better.

When I lived in or near Pittsburgh, going to opening day of the Pirates was a tradition.  This year the opening day crowd--which looked large and enthusiastic--was treated to a Pirates home run on the first pitch of the game, by Josh Harrison.  They also have the early season distinction of being the only team so far to beat the Detroit Tigers.

Play Ball!

Baseball!  I paid no attention to NCAA this year, and though I'll probably follow Golden State through the NBA playoffs, I can't help feeling the dislocation of a league in which the two most prominent franchises--LA Lakers and New York Knicks--are among the worst teams.

So baseball.  The season starts with my Pirates pretty highly rated, and my Giants holding onto respect but not high hopes among the baseball writers etc.  And despite the opening day loss for the Bucs and the MadBum victory for the Giants, it's hard to argue with the writers.

Already the Giants are facing injury problems with their aging starting pitchers.  It's amazing how well they did late last year with several key injuries, but with Brandon Belt going down, both hitting and pitching are a mess to start the season.  Belt is due for a big year, so is Angel Pagan, but neither has been able to stay healthy.   It really looks like the off year, the odd numbered year, for this team.  They added no discernible power to the lineup, and lost a lot that they had.  And that starting corps is worrisome.

The Pirates look better than the Giants at least on paper, and I'm sure it's going to be an exciting summer at PNC Park.  They certainly have more power, and potentially very good pitching.  So the Pirates seem to have a much better chance of getting into the postseason than the Giants.  But that's how it looks.  They still have to play the games.  Play ball!

Super Stupid

Tom Brady did not win the Super Bowl for New England.  Coach Pete Carroll lost the Super Bowl for Seattle.

All Seattle had to do was make a half yard into the end zone in the last 40 seconds of the game to repeat as Super Bowl champions.  They had this year's most dominating short yardage back in the NFL.  It was second down.

Instead Coach Carroll got cute, called a pass play, the pass was neatly intercepted in traffic--and the game was essentially over.

How many ways can we count that this play was a stupidly wrong call?  The likelihood of an interception versus a fumble?  The lack of risk involved in a pass defense when an interference penalty would have resulted in meaningless yardage?  The time that could conceivably be left on the clock after a touchdown and extra point?

I watched only the fourth quarter, on my computer, and that turned out to be too much.  I didn't really much care who won, but a game decided on a play like that is just such a bummer that I regret watching any of it at all.

In another NFL note, Johnny Football (currently on the Browns roster) has reportedly entered "treatment" for an unspecified reason.  It's pretty clear from accounts of his behavior that they constitute a textbook pattern of alcoholics.  I'd be surprised if that doesn't turn out to be the case.

Blount Talk in Pittsburgh

Let the moaning in Pittsburgh begin.  I guarantee it's already happening, and will happen big this week, after the New England Patriots blew out the Indianopolis Colts to represent the AFL in the Super Bowl.  They did so with 148 yards and 3 touchdowns on 30 carried by LeGarrette Blount.

For most of this season, Blount was a Steeler.  But after a game which saw Le'Veon Bell dominate the running back carries and install himself as the starter as well as a league leader, Blount left the team early and was soon released.

Then in the final game of the regular season, in which the Steelers won their division, Bell was injured and could not play in the first playoff game.  Without Blount, the Steelers had no experienced quality backup and no running game.  They lost, badly.

The Steelers may have had few good choices but at the moment it's going to look to many like they managed themselves out of a Super Bowl.  With Blount they would have had a good chance to win their playoff game against the Ravens at home.  And on Sunday, Blount showed what he could do against Indianapolis, and perhaps what New England lacked without him.

(The counter-argument is that the Steelers offense actually outgained the Ravens, but their defense couldn't hold. But then there are all those trips to the red zone with only field goals.)

There's a real possibility the Steelers were punked.  Blount saw that he'd lost the starting role, and knowing how Belichick operates on both edges of the rules, I wouldn't be surprised if Blount had already been in touch with the Patriots (or that the Patriots "informally" got in touch with him), and deliberately got himself thrown off the Steelers so he could sign as the Patriots feature back.

Could the Steelers have kept Blount somehow?  Could they have promptly replaced him with an experienced backup, instead of assuming in what now looks like wishful arrogance that they could always depend on Bell?  Some of this discussion has already been raging, but now all of it will be hashed out endlessly and angrily in Pittsburgh this week and probably next.